Returning to a job he'd held from 1982 through 2001, Mayor Tom Coyne called a special election in August for two tax measures: a hike in the income tax and a new property tax for recreation. Voters trounced both. Now the city's general fund is $3 million in the red.

Coyne laid off about 19 workers and cut several programs, including free snowplowing for senior citizens and, effective Jan. 1, the indoor pool. He's also looking at privatizing waste collection, closing City Hall and moving city offices into the community center.

It took emergency meetings during the holiday break at the end of December to appropriate funds for the next three months, narrowly avoiding a shutdown.

2.Firefighters simmer. In May, Coyne closed the Ruple Parkway fire station and consolidated the fire department on Holland Road. But petitioners forced a special election for February 2015 on a measure to reopen Ruple and set minimum staffing levels at both stations.

Coyne is also considering privatizing emergency medical services. Many area firefighters protested at a recent meeting.

3. Ford and showrooms give Brook an EcoBoost. Ford Motors, the city's biggest private employer, prepared to start making small EcoBoost engines early in 2015. It renovated the engine plant, hired 225 workers and promised at least another 225. Meanwhile, Collection Auto Group and Rock-n-Roll City Harley-Davidson helped accelerate Brookpark Road's resurgence as a dealership hub.

4. NASA Glenn rebuilds. Besides its usual bounty of scientific awards and achievements, NASA Glenn Research Center opened a $29 million Mission Integration Center as part of an ambitious master plan for upgrades.

5. Home Days sparks fireworks. Years after starting Home Days, Coyne banned carnival rides from the event in the hopes of a calmer, more neighborly festival. But many residents didn't like the results.

6. Brookgate comes up Roses. New owners of Brookgate brought in Roses discount store and continue to hope for more improvements.

7. Brook Park shivers and shovels. It snowed on Coyne's inauguration day Jan. 1, launching a year of rough weather. A city worker rescued a frozen dog. A polar vortex broke pipes in Brook Park United Methodist Church, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. A flood damaged Brook Park Community Church of the Brethren.

8. School levy fails. Brook Park voters played an outsized role in defeating a Berea school district levy of 3.9 additional mills.

9.Councilman confronts Lady Liberty. During tax season, new Councilman Tom Troyer of Ward 1 argued with a man in a Statue of Liberty costume waving passers-by into a tax return business. Troyer pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct. His sentence included anger management classes.

10. Holy Cross grows. Workers raised two new mausoleums at Holy Cross Cemetery and made other improvements to the Catholic graveyard's 240 acres.